


Two Halves of an Arrow

by suseagull04



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:14:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26360050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suseagull04/pseuds/suseagull04
Summary: Regina and Robin's families have been enemies for years, but can they overcome hatred and even find love?
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Robin Hood
Comments: 10
Kudos: 10





	Two Halves of an Arrow

**Author's Note:**

> This is the start of a fic we wanted to write for OQ Prompt Party this year, then there wasn't enough time. Enjoy this Lion King II AU! Cowritten by the always amazing @Titan77715!

Tinkerbell, called Tink by her friends, thought about the past day and smiled. Two babies had been born in neighboring forests that day to two very different families who had been at war with each other for years now. Ever since Cora’s family had been banished from Philip and Aurora’s lands, the two families had been fighting constantly over petty issues that would never matter in the long run. But Tink was well aware that both families had a stubborn streak- after all, they wouldn’t have been in conflict otherwise.

She had just checked in with Phillip and Aurora earlier in the morning. Aurora had given birth to a son named Robin. But Tink was aware that there was another birth that had taken place mere hours before. Cora had given birth to a daughter called Regina. Tink hadn’t been surprised by the baby’s name at all. Cora’s deepest desire was to see herself or her offspring on the throne, and she was ruthless in the pursuit of that goal. So the fact that she had named her daughter a name that literally meant “queen” was almost to be expected. 

Tink wrung her hands as she moved through the fairies’ headquarters, a hollowed-out tree in Sherwood Forest. Truth be told, she felt sorry for both children. She had used magic to see into their futures and knew that despite their families’ best efforts, their destinies were intertwined in ways they would never expect. However, death and destruction were prevalent in every future she saw, and Tink wondered if there was a way to alleviate the pain both families would experience. 

Then her eyes fell on a substance that she had sworn never to touch again that was resting on a high shelf, far out of harm’s way.  _ What if…  _ No, that was crazy. If she did that, Robin and Regina would be targets, both unable to escape the anger of their parents, and they didn’t deserve that. However, if it was the only way to reunite the families who had been estranged for so long, maybe it would be worth it.

Tink sighed. The plan that was slowly starting to take shape in her mind was one that she was sure would prove to be very difficult, full of twists and turns and conflict from all sides. However, it was the only plan she could think of that might actually work. She just hoped that she could mitigate the pain that Robin and Regina would experience and that the end of their story would be exactly what she had planned.

********

Regina ran. She didn't know exactly where she was going, but she knew she  _ had  _ to get away from her mother. She expected nothing but perfection from Regina and her older sisters, Zelena and Cruella, and there were times that Regina had had enough. This was one of those days. Her mother’s constant desire for perfection was exhausting. She never felt like she was allowed to play with her sisters, whether that was inside of their dilapidated home or outside in the surrounding forest. 

After yet another lecture from her mother, she had snuck out of their home, making her way past crumbling walls and gaping holes in the foundation at the first opportunity, determined to have some fun for once. She ran to the stables to mount her horse, Rocinante, so they could both be free for a while.

Once they were ready, she rode Rocinante as far as she could until they reached the border between her family's land and Sherwood Forest. She knew she wasn't supposed to go there (for reasons Mother had never made clear enough for her to understand), but she was so angry at her mother and her ridiculous rules that she didn't care. She wanted to be  _ free _ .

********

Robin’s parents were always telling him that he was a very mischievous child. He never committed any serious crime, but always enjoyed stealing various items he found in the castle and giving them to the less fortunate. His parents told him to never go too far from the castle, but Robin always wanted to help those in need. 

So one day, Robin decided to leave the castle, taking a bag of bread with him. He planned to give this bread to some elderly servants who recently left the castle and were living in a cottage within the Enchanted Forest. His mother and father had always told him that he wasn't allowed to go there, that it was too dangerous. While he knew his mother and thought that she said that because she worried about him so much (at least in part), the fact that this particular warning was always echoed by his father gave him pause. He never said anything like that without a good reason, so Robin knew there must be something that his parents weren't telling him, and while he thought it was probably to protect him, the secrecy was still maddening. They were always telling him how grown-up he was becoming every day. If he was really so grown up, why didn't he know why he wasn't allowed to go there?

Suddenly, as the foliage that marked the border of the Enchanted Forest drew ever nearer, he made a decision: he _ was  _ old enough to go to the Enchanted Forest, whether his parents thought he was or not. Crossing from the pines he loved into the forest of tall oaks before him, he set off.

Suddenly, as he was running down the unfamiliar path as swiftly as the wind, he was stopped by the strange sight of dark clothing in front of him. 

Robin stared curiously at what appeared to be a girl about his age in a small black dress, hat, and no shoes. Robin looked at the girl’s face to see an ebony-haired girl with unique amber eyes who was staring at him as though he was her worst enemy. 

The girl spoke. “Who are you, usurper?" 

Robin ignored the girl’s comment and continued examining her movements going left every time she paced left, going right every time she moved right. 

With a confused expression on her face, the raven-haired girl asked, “What are you doing?" 

A focused Robin replied, “I don’t know why, but my father told me to never turn my back on outsiders. I believe that’s what you are, correct?" 

Her smile was mocking when she asked, “Do you always do what your daddy tells you?" 

“No, not all the time," Robin responded defensively, now more frustrated than he had been. 

The girl crowed triumphantly, “Yes you do, you must be Daddy’s little girl." 

Robin, now truly insulted, yelled, “Hey, stop it! I am a boy, thank you, outsider." 

The girl continued speaking. “You see, where I came from, we take care of ourselves. I can survive within this forest all by myself, unlike you. You're probably…"

Suddenly, before she could comment further, a large roar echoed throughout the forest. The roar came from none other than an ogre who was rushing straight at them. 

Robin inferred from his companion’s expression that this was an incredible sight for both of the ogre’s new targets. They had apparently both been told by their parents that ogres were too large to run at a fast pace. 

The girl in the onyx dress was the first to react, taking the still-shocked prince by the hand and yelling, “Come on!" The two ran as fast as they could down the forest path only to see that another ogre was already there resting on a rock. 

Prince Robin yelled at his unlikely ally, “Hey, let’s try this way!” The two went right, keeping pace with one another only to see that two ogres were now smashing rocks with massive clubs at the end of the path. 

His companion then told the prince, “Wait! I remember a spot over here. My mother used to take me to this place all the time." 

The two children turned left off of the dangerous path they had been following and stumbled upon a large mausoleum. The prince, looking disgusted, stared at the outsider with an amazed look. He hoped to convey to her that she was right about coming here. The outsider simply ignored it and the two of them entered the large tomb through the opened door. 

As they entered, Robin looked astonished as he saw hundreds of vials on top of many shelves. They were in different colors and looked like jewelry on display. He began to ask the girl, now much calmer than she had been, what this place was, but the girl coincidentally interrupted with the answer to the question he was trying to ask. “This is where my mom keeps her collections of potions that she doesn’t want anybody knowing about. Only she and I know this place- and now you, I guess.” 

Robin responded, “I thought this was a tomb.” 

The girl answered his assumption. “It’s that too. This belongs to my father Rumpelstiltskin. You may know him as the Dark One." Robin was shocked when he heard the nickname. The Dark One was a name that had always been whispered with a considerable amount of reverent fear in Sherwood Forest. Robin thought:  _ how can this odd, yet smart girl be the daughter of my family’s greatest foe? _ All he had ever known of the villain was that his mother and father hated him for some unknown reason.

After an hour, the two of them left the majestic mausoleum and headed into the forest. The girl, who was preoccupied with figuring out what part of the forest they were in since the sun was beginning to set, slipped on a large log while walking, but the prince was able to catch her with his swift reflexes. She smiled a bit to thank him for his assistance but quickly resumed her stern expression and the two continued onward, trying to find a path they recognized. 

Robin finally saw a road that led straight to the castle, but before he left, he asked, “You know, for a long time I've asked what your name is since I am tired of calling you 'outsider' all the time. Are you ever going to tell me?” 

The girl reluctantly said, “Well, since I haven’t asked for yours, my name is-” 

"REGINA!” a voice behind them called out. Suddenly, a woman wearing a red and black striped dress appeared with an orb of fire in each of her hands. 

The vicious-looking woman looked straight at the fearful prince, “Regina, get behind me right now!!!” 

The girl in the ebony dress, who Robin now knew was named Regina, responded, “Wait! Mother, this is just a friend.” 

Then seven knights arrived with well armored horses surrounding the three people with swords at hand, ready to strike. One more horse came after them, a brown horse that was carrying none other than the king, who wore white and silver armor. 

Robin knew immediately from that armor that it was his dad. He ran to him at a quick pace and yelled, “Father, hold on, these people are friends.” 

The king turned his head toward him and said, “No son, these people are the leading family of the outsiders, the people of the Dark One, the being that almost destroyed my kingdom." 

He continued, “My son, follow me. Men, if the two outsiders make a single move, slice them open.” 

The mother of Robin’s new friend Regina then told her daughter “You need to come with me as well, Regina. Now is not the time to mess with these usurpers." 

Regina followed her mother to the forest but turned around. When she did, Robin whispered goodbye one last time. Then he turned and mounted his father’s horse, wondering when- or if- he would ever see Regina again.

********

Robin spent the entire ride back to Sherwood Castle with his head hung low. He knew that neither of his parents were happy with him, and he didn’t know what the consequences of his disobedience would be.

When they got back to the castle, Daniel, Robin’s older brother by two years, came running out to meet them on the sloping front lawn. “Where’d you go, Robin? What’d you do? Did-”

“Enough, Daniel,” Robin’s father warned. “Your mother asked the two of you to play together, and instead, your brother ended up on the border of the Enchanted Forest.”

“Cool!” Daniel exclaimed, his eyes wide.

“ _ Not  _ cool,” Aurora corrected him as she, too, stepped outside to greet her husband and son. “You both need to do as you’re told, and we need to impress upon both of you how serious your father and I are about this. Therefore, you both will be grounded for the foreseeable future. No leaving the castle for any reason for the next month.”

“But Mom-” the boys said simultaneously, but their father cut them off.

“Your mother’s right, boys. Robin did a very bad thing. If you crossed into the Enchanted Forest and Cora discovered you were there, you could both end up in very real danger.”

“Nuh uh,” Robin denied with a scoff. “Regina was really nice, she would never hurt us.”

“Your father didn’t say she would,” Aurora corrected him gently. “But there is a very real chance that Cora might, and other than Rumplestiltskin, she’s the worst villain your father and I have ever faced. It’s too likely that she’ll raise her daughters to be just like her for us to risk you being around them.”

“But they’re not!” Robin rushed to assure her. “Regina was so nice- the nicest girl I’ve ever met. What happened with the Dark One and Regina’s mom for you to hate them so much?” He wanted answers and was determined to get them today. He had liked Regina’s spirit, that she was as fearless as he was. He had never met a girl like her before, and if every girl in the Enchanted Forest was like her, he didn’t understand why he and Daniel had to stay away from the neighboring kingdom.

With a small smile, Aurora acknowledged, “She might be. But that doesn’t mean that other people who live there are like her. I need you to understand this, Robin: You’re too young to know what happened between the outsiders and our family, but I promise, you’ll find out one day. In the meantime, I don’t want you to get hurt, and in order to ensure that that doesn’t happen, I need to take precautions like grounding you and your brother.”

As he nodded forlornly and followed his family into the castle, Robin thought about what his parents had said. He still didn’t really understand why he wasn’t allowed to play with Regina. Other people from the Enchanted Forest may be dangerous, but he knew in the depths of his soul that Regina was entirely good and he was determined to see her again someday. The only question was: When would that be?

Once they were alone in Daniel’s room, where toys strewn throughout the room proved that they often played there together, Daniel asked his brother, “Was Regina really as nice as you told Mom she was? Or were you just saying that so she’d leave you alone?”

Robin shook his head and reiterated, “She’s really the nicest girl I’ve ever met. And I’m going to find her again someday.”

“I’ll help you,” Daniel promised. “Together, we can do anything.”

********

Cora was fuming. How dare her beautiful daughter, who she knew one day would sit on the throne of both the Enchanted Forest and Sherwood Forest, disobey her? She ran a strict household, and Zelena and Cruella never hesitated to obey. In fact, there were times when Zelena seemed to seek her affection to an annoying degree. She often brought home gifts from the market, many of which were mere trinkets that held little value to Cora. It should have come as no surprise, though- after all, Cora made her preference for Regina known to all of her daughters. 

Although yes, the gifts Zelena brought her were not of the highest quality, that fact should not surprise Cora in the slightest. When they had been exiled here, she had been filled with dread, knowing that the Enchanted Forest had an economy that did not thrive as easily as the economy of Sherwood Forest, for reasons Cora could never quite comprehend. Even their home, the best the Enchanted Forest had to offer, had been full of cobwebs when she first arrived. However, that frustration paled in comparison to her other worries.

The one thing she wanted more than anything was to have both the Enchanted Forest and Sherwood Forest under her control as they had once been before Philip and Aurora had seen to Rumple's demise years before. She had ruled by his side, their dominion one of terror for those who resented or flat out refused their leadership. It had been glorious, the power she had held, and she had resented Philip and Aurora every day since they had taken that power away from her.

Not that she didn't have plenty to do. It was certainly a challenge raising three children. Each was unique in her own way, and because she was raising them on her own, sometimes Cora had to abandon her scheming to raise them, which was not only a nuisance, but tiresome, especially when she knew she could be using that energy to plot her revenge against Philip and Aurora. Those pesky do-gooders wouldn't know a properly run kingdom if it laid siege to Sherwood Forest and starved its citizens to death.

She paused for a moment. Her heart was racing and she found it hard to breathe, her thoughts of revenge so all-consuming that she could think of nothing else. All of her plans thus far had failed, and she had spent years trying to think of a way for them to finally work out. 

“Mother, can I help in any way? Clean the castle or give you a nice massage or-” Zelena began to ask, but Cora cut her off. 

“What you can do is not let your sister out of your sight! I specifically asked you to watch her, and what happened? She ended up on the edge of our lands, mingling with that spoiled son of our enemies! They have no idea how hard it’s been for us to make a new life here, how difficult it is to begin again, and what do you do? Let Regina interact with the youngest of them like they’re the same as us, like they didn’t  _ exile us _ all those years ago-”

Zelena interrupted her ranting. “I know, and I’m sorry. She’s sneaky, I didn’t see her leave. But I’ll do anything to make it up to you.”

“Besides,” Cruella interjected. “Now we have an easy way to infiltrate Sherwood Forest.”

As Zelena glared at her sister, Cora demanded, “What are you talking about? No I-” Then what had likely been Cruella’s thought process dawned on Cora as well. Of course she had an easier way to infiltrate Sherwood Forest now! She could use the friendship Regina had made with Robin to her advantage! Then the unsuspecting Phillip and Aurora would welcome her with open arms, and then she would rule it all once more. 

"You brilliant children," she cooed, putting an arm around Cruella and Regina. "I'm so proud of you both. We'll come up with the perfect plan to defeat Phillip and Aurora, and you've planted the seeds today. With them, we'll regain the power we once had and rule over both the Enchanted Forest and Sherwood Forest once more!"

She kissed their foreheads, then glanced up at Zelena. "Now, go to sleep, girls. We have a lot of work to do in the morning."

While they slept, she laid awake all night. Ideas were being formed in her head, ideas that were solidifying into plans that would one day get her everything she had ever wanted. 

Philip and Aurora would never have any idea what was coming for them, and she couldn't wait. She would crush them like the obnoxious flies they were, and bring an end to their reign that would leave the way clear for her. Then, and only then, would she have everything she had dreamed of for years.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this, let us know what you think!!


End file.
